ClutchFans Game Thread: Pelicans @ Rockets 10/5/2013 (PRESEASON)

I must say that you guys are too excited about Casspi game.

Yes, he played like in the SAC days and yes this is the Casspi i know but i fear you expect too much too soon.
It is only the 1st game and a pre-season one.


Anyway, when is the next game?

 

good to see the rox back and improved from last year. notice improvement in jlin overall game but the biggest improvement was harden, he is going to be mvp this year.

 

People, you cannot say a NBA player is "brickin it" if he only takes 3 shots. All that says of you is that you do not do anything but watch the shots during a game. And there is so much more to a game than the shots.

Jones last night played like he knew that he had to provide the offense for the second team. D-Mo played like he knew that he had to provide good defense, rebounding and assists with the starters. Gee, what are the odds that that is exactly what the coaching staff told them? 99%? Jones scored efficiently and D-Mo rebounded, played defense and assisted very well. What is not to like?

And there is this very odd notion on this board that there is room in the Rockets starting lineup for a PF to take a lot of shots. Absolutely not true. NBA teams playing at a high pace will get about 1.7 shots per minute on average. That is all the shots they can take. So if your starting 5 play 30 minutes each, there are 45 shots to go around. Nine shots per player. And if you want Harden taking 15 shots and Howard 12 and Parsons 8 and Lin 7 that leaves only 5 shots for the PF. And that analysis makes perfect sense because there is only 2.3 shot clocks per minute and the opponent has half of that.

 

i will also add that , mchale was critical of his Defensive skill effort during an interview. Yes the coaches are big on D guys.

 

What are thoughts on the players D?

 

My excitement about Casspi is that he went from less than even money to make the roster to a high probability of making the roster.

 

Agreed. Jones offense will primarily be to hit an open jumper. Get a put back, maybe. Maybe an odd PnR here and there. And of course hustle plays. His game I feel is more suited to that kind of play in any event.

But aside from D Mo's boards they were both messy on D. Still a month of preseason to go, though.

 

Jrue Holiday from legit to scrub in one game.

 

Not really,,lol

 

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The defense was excellent when the starters were on the floor. In addition Bev embarrassed NO. Literally. D-Mo came close to just shutting down Davis. There were 2 mixups on PnR defense with Harden, but it is the preseason. Basically the Rockets sucked on defense when Howard was not on the floor. They needed Asik, but he was injured. Lin played very good defense and the starters dominated.

During the season, if one of Howard or Asik is hurt, a second team lineup of D-Mo, Parsons and Smith/Jones may be able to survive.

 

McHell is talking nonsense. If anything DMo wasn't chancing the ball, he was screening, quick passing, moving good without the ball.

 

That man is the darn Coach, he would know a lot more than you. bwhahahahaha

 

was there a pregame karate ritual?

 

A couple of observations after last nights game.

Starters:
Lin
Harden
Howard
Parsons
D-Mo/TJones

Rotation players
Asik
Beverley
Casspi
Garcia
D-Mo/TJones

That's 10 players right there. I don't see anyone else getting many minutes except in unique situations against certain opponents.

I want to see more from Canaan in the coming weeks. If Canaan shows any ability as a PG then I see Brooks being cut.

I think the Rockets would really like to trade D-Mo and Asik for a veteran PF. I would miss Asik as our backup center, but I think that is why we have Smith and Camby on the team.

Did the Rockets start D-Mo to showcase him for a possible trade? TJones has a long way to go to be a complete player, but I think Jones is the guy the Rockets want to keep.

 

The question addressed D-Mo and Jones. IMHO the criticism was aimed at Jones.

 

So you are saying last night D-Mo out-played Jones? Is that what you saw?

 

In my mind, this game didn't answer the burning questions about this team, i.e. who is (are) the best players on the roster for playing the 4 spot and the question on the effectivity of Howard/Asik combo.

I expected the 4 starters to play well and they did. Casspi played better than expected and made a strong bid for Carlos minutes.

Going forward, the question of Howard/Asik combo should be answered and Asik certainly, at a minimum will boost that second team defense which was woeful in this game.

The 4 spot looks like it may be problematic, at least in the short run.

Looking forward to when Asik returns and we get more data.

 

Oh no, a DOF!

 

Wow. OK. Canaan is a much to short and slow PG. I would not expect him to play more than meager minutes in the NBA next season. I would imagine that we will see him in a couple more preseason games, but the NBA is another world and he seems ill equipped to play there. Covington looked out of his element too. Is there a race to see who will get a roster spot? Maybe. Did either of them make a single positive play on O or D last night? I cannot think of one.

The Rockets almost certainly will not trade Asik. Last nights game perfectly demonstrated why. Jones did what he was instructed to do and scored for the bench. D-Mo did what he was told and played D, rebounded and passed on his own shots to assist team mates. They filled the PF role adequately.